USA

Five wounded in stabbing at rabbi's house in Monsey, New York

Attack took place during Chanukah celebration on Saturday evening

December 29, 2019 09:30
Yossi Gestetner of the OJPAC and Evan Bernstein from the ADL speak to the press after the attack
1 min read

Five Charedium have been injured in a mass stabbing at a rabbi's house during a Chanukah celebration in New York state.

The attack happened in Monsey at around 9.50pm on Saturday. The Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council said those injured were taken to local hospitals. 

Two of them were injured critically, the OJPAC said, and one was stabbed six times. The attacker concealed his face with a scarf.

The suspect fled the scene by car but was later stopped and taken into custody.

The rabbi's house is next door to his shul. One of his children was among those stabbed.

"The house had many dozens of people in there," co-founder of OJPAC for the Hudson Valley region Yossi Gestetner told the New York Times.

One 65-year-old witness told the paper: "I was praying for my life. He started attacking people right away as soon as he came in the door. We didn't have time to react at all."

The motive was unclear but New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he had tasked the state police's hate crimes task force to investigate.

He said: "Let me be clear: antisemitism and bigotry of any kind are repugnant to our values of inclusion and diversity and we have absolutely zero tolerance for such acts of hate."

Monsey, which is about 30 miles north of New York City, is home to a large strictly Orthodox community.

The attack comes three weeks after five people were killed in a shooting at a kosher supermarket in Jersey City, near New York City.

The dead included the two men suspected of carrying out the attack in what authorities now believe was an antisemitic hate crime.